Fire-extinguisher sprinkler system



' June 26, 1928.

A. J. LOEPSINGER FIRE EXTINGUISHER SPRINKLER SYSTEM l///////////////// r9 Km u Z m v 3 n .7 a A M n 4 9 my; z

Filed April 6, 1926 Patented June 26, 1928.

UNITED STATES ALBERT JOHN LOEPBING'ER, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND,ASSIGNOE .IIO

FIRE EXTINGUISEER COMPANY,

A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FIRE-EXTINGUISHER SPRINKLER SYSTEM.

Application flied April 8,

Heretofore, in fire extinguisher systems for buildings, it has beencustomary to provide ipin leading from a source of water supp y anextendmg to various port1ons of the building by means of branch pipesand feed lines, the latter suspended from the ceilings and provided atmtervals along their length with automatic sprmklers which, under theaction of heat, cause the systems to operate to supply water underpressure to the feed llnes and ultlmatel be released through thesprinklers in the o rm of spray for the purpose of extinguishing thefire, the sprinklers being attached to lateral outlets of reducing Tfitt ngs wh ch are also the means of uniting adjacent p pe sections ofdifferent diameters constituting the feed lines aforesaid.

My invention has for its object the construction and installation ofwater dlstrlbuting piping for supplying sprinklers m a fire sprinklersystem, whereby the mechanical installation is greatly simplified 1nrespect to the number of parts and jolnts required, the supply of thewater to the sprinklers is more uniformly d1stributed, the availableeffective pressure at the sprinklers is increased with a given initialpressure in the supply main, andthe weight of the plp- :0 ing carryingthe sprinklers 1s considerably reduced.

With the above and other objects 1n view, the nature of which will bemore fully understood from the description herinafter, the

invention consists in the novel construction of fire extinguishersprinkler system, as hereinafter more fully described and defined in theclaims. r

Referring to the drawlngsz Flg. 1 1s a plan view illustrating a portionof a fire extinguisher sprinkler system embody ng my invention; Fig. isa vertlcal section along one of the sprinkler support ng and watersupplying feed mains; Fig. 3 1s a plan view of a modified closure forthe terminal ipe of one of the branch malns shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is amodification of the piping shown in Fig. 2, and more particularly inrespect to the upsetting of the metal at the pipe end to thicken it;Fig. 5

is a sectional view illustrating the special manner of forming thethreaded union between adjacent ipe ends; Fig. 6 is a plan view of oneof t e pipe lines, modified as to as the place of attachment of thesprinklers;

1926. Serial No. 100,023.

and Fig. 7 is a vertical section showing the manner of heretoforeforming the connection of the pipes and sprinklers by use of cast metalfittings.

The general p1 ing installation employed for fire extinguisher sprinklersystems consists of risers of large size leading from a source of watersupply, horizontal cross mains receiving their water supply from therisers, and horizontal feed lines of piping which receive water from thecross mains and supply it to the sprinklers which are attached to saidpiping at intervals along the lengths thereof. This arrangement ofpiping is shown in Fig. 1, as it might apply to a small portion of abuilding, in which 2 is the riser, 3 the cross mains and 4 are the feedlines for the sprinklers 19.

As my invention is more particularly di rected to the feed lines 4 andtheir special construction, I have shown the same in 'de tail in Figs.2, 3 and 4. In Fig. 2, I have only indicated three pipe sections ofdifierent diameters, by way of example, though there may be five suchsections as shown in Fig. 1, or any other number, as the installationmay require. The numbers and lengths of these feed lines 4 may be variedaccording to the requirements of the building and may ramify through itand be proportioned as to the diminishing diameters of their pipesections, in accordance with the number and position of the sprinklersto be supplied. In respect to the particular example shown in Fig. 1,the cross mains 3 may be of two and one-half inch diameter, and the pipesections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the branch feed lines may respectivel havediameters of two inches, one an one-half inches, one and onequarterinches, one inch, and three-quarter inch, diminishing as they arearranged further from the cross main 3. Except for the difference intheir diameters, the pipe sections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 may be alike, thatis to say, one end 11 may be straight of full diameter and externallyscrew threaded as usual in piping, but the other end 10 is reduced indiameter slightly and internally screw threaded, so that the end 11 ofone pipe section makes a screw joint with the internal threaded end 10of the next pipe section, as at 12. It will thus be seen that the pipesections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are directly screwed together in series andwithout any pipe fittings or couplings Y as heretofore required and asshown in Fig.

cross pi 'vided wit 7 by way of illustration. 7

As the internal diameters of ad'acent pipes, such as 8 and 9, differonly slightly more than the thickness of the metal of the smaller ofthepipes, it will be seen that the contraction of the end 10 provides onlya small curved enlargement as at 13 and no material pocket orobstruction to the flow of the water. Practice has shown that thecompression of the pipe end to reduce its diameter at 10 provides someincreased metal and that the screw joint formed is strong and durable.Where light weight piping is employed or where greater strength at thejoint is required, the pipe end may be upset lon itudinally at the sametime the diameter is being reduced, as indicated at 10" in Fi 4.Furthermore, as the joint 12 is required to be both air and water tight,it is desirable to cut the .internal thread on the end 10 of one pipesection at a sli htly greater angle than that givento the t read out onthe end 11 of the adjacent pipe sections, as indicated in Fig. 5, sothat the external threads on the end 11 first enga'the internal threadsat a distance from the end of the part 10 to produce a tight joint; andit will be understood that a very tight joint may be made in this way,since a great deal more force may be exerted in completing the jointwithout stretching the pipe end 10 than would be the case if thestretching action. first came upon the extremity of the end part 10. 7

As shown, the pipe sections 5, 6, 7 and 8 are each laterall boredthrough at 16 near their ends 10 arthest removed from the s 3; and aboutthese holes are respective y arranged steel nozzles which areelectrically or otherwise Welded to the pipe sections at 17 and areinternally screw threaded as at 18. The sprinklers 19 may be of ansuitable construction and proscrew threaded inlet nipples 20 which screwinto the threaded portions 18 of the nozzles 15. In Fig. 2, I' have onlyshown one sprinkler 19, but it is to be understood that a sprinkler isfitted to each nozzle 15. Pipe section 9 may be a straight length oftube with its terminal end closed by a cap 14 and with a threaded nozzle15 welded to the pipe section, as in the case of the sections 5, 6, 7and 8, before referred to. If desired, this section 9 may be reduced at10 as in the other pipe sections and sealed with a plug 14 as s own inFig. 3, but the special a vantages of the other joints not belngavailable at the terminal end of section 9,

y sealing'the end of said pipe.

I do not restrict myself as to the means of By comparing theconstruction of my improved pi ing with Fig. 7 showing the constructioneretofore employed, it will be seen that the latter requires reducing Ts23 into one opening of which the straight length of larger pipe 21 isscrewed and into the other opening of which the straight length of thesmaller pipe 22 is screwed, thus requiring two screwed joints. The thirdopening in the T receives the threaded nipple 20 of the s rinkler 19.The T 23 provides a hollow c iamber 24 which sets up objectionable eddycurrents and increases the flow of water to the nozzles. It will also beunderstood that as the fittings 23 vary very considerably in sizeaccording to the different internal diameters of the pipe sections, itis evident that the hollow chambers 24 which produce the eddy currentsvery materially vary and consequently there is a lack of uniformit inthe distrlbution of the water from t e sprinklers and a shortage ofwater to the distant nozzles when the piping extends to a greatdistance, as in large buildin s. 1

Some of the special advantages of my improved piping may be enumeratedas follows: One threaded joint is eliminated in forming the union of twoconsecutive lengths of pipe, in that the pipe sections are uniteddirectly without the intervention of fittings; trouble due to breakageand leakage on account of orous castings, such the fittings hereto orerequired, are avoided; lightness of construction is assured in that theheavy castings constituting fittings, such as reducing Ts, are-entirelyeliminated; eddy currents in the water flow are largely eliminated andconsequently the supply of water to the sprinklers is more uniform andconstant and reaches to greater distances with adequate flow assuredwhen the system is in operation; the sprinklers may be located along thelength of piping wherever found desirable; there is less weight to thepipin than heretofore required, and consequenty less strain upon theceiling structures of the building; and there is considerably lessfriction loss in the feed lines so that a greater proportion of thepressure at the supply or entrance to the feed lines is available toforce the water from the sprinklers when opened. It will be understoodthat while there is, to a small extent, eddy currents produced adjacentto the reductions in internal diameters of the joined pipe sections, theeffect of said eddy currents (in increasing the flow from the nozzles)maybe still further minimized, if desired, by providing nozzles on thepiping adjacent to the end 11, as indicated at 15" in Fig. 6, since atthose portions of the pipes there are no obstructions or interferencewith free flow of water.

It will be understood that the sections of piping which constitute thefeed lines 4 need not vary greatly in length and may, therefore, be madeup on shop orders and carried in stock. The simplicity of conllustruction would not only enable the cost to be reduced in themanufacture of the parts required, but the labor in installin myimproved system is also considerably elow the cost of installationemploying the reducing T fittings as heretofore required. Furthermore,if the pipe sections are made long for special work, a plurality ofnozzles and 15 may be formed on each section, if so desired.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel anduseful'construction which embodies the features of advantage enumeratedas desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown anddescribed the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found inpractice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to beunderstood that I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same aresusceptible of modification in various particulars without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is 1. A pipe section for a distributing feed a pluralityof distributing pipe lines receiving water from a common source andadapted to supply water to a plurality of sprinkler nozzles arrangedalong their len th,

said pipe lines each comprising a plura ity of pipe sections of standardsizes and successively decreasing in internal diameters and directlyconnected end to end by single screw joints, said pipe sections eachcom-. prising a tubular pipe length having one end of the full diameterof the pipe and externally screw threaded and the other end reduced indiameter and internally screw threaded to receive the external screwthreaded end of the next smaller pipe section, each pipe section furtherprovided with a lateral aperture at a distance from the ends, combinedwith sprinklers attached to said lateral apertures of the pipe sections.

4. The invention according to claim 3, wherein further, the lateralopenings in the pipe sections are formed with screw threaded nozzleswelded to the outer walls of the pipe sections near their contracted andin-

